With version 10.5 of the Mac OS X operating system (colloquially named "Leopard"), Apple introduced an incredibly easy way to back up your entire computer automatically. They named their software Time Machine, and designed it so that it keeps a constant running backup of your computer's files, from everyday documents, to e-mail inboxes, to crucial system files. If your system goes down in flames (figuratively...or literally, for those very unlucky few), your external backup hard drive will save the day. Whether you had to replace the inner storage of your computer or purchase an entirely new machine, you will be able to restore every single one of your files in one fell swoop via your trusty Time Machine.
Of course, in the cases where an entire system restore is not necessary, it's a cinch to pick and choose, whether it be a version of that book chapter that you regretfully hacked to pieces a week ago, or that folder of beloved photos from Cousin Merl's barbecue that your angel of a nephew not-so-innocently trashed yesterday.
When you plug in a new external drive to your Mac, you should be automatically asked whether you want to dedicate that hard drive to Time Machine. Easy enough. But what if you want to back up a Mac that isn't always physically connected to that drive? Like a laptop, for instance? Apple will tell you to purchase Time Capsule, which is a wireless router and hard drive combination that is designed to backup multiple computers over a home network. However, if you already have a wireless connection and an external hard drive, purchasing Time Capsule may seem a bit frivolous. Fortunately, Apple has built in the capability to use a regular ol' external hard drive for network backups -- they're just not going out of their way to tell you! Continue below to see the steps necessary set it up in almost no time at all...
Before starting, let's make sure that a couple pieces are in place. First, see that you have an external hard drive connected to the primary Mac on your network (let's call it "Mac1"), and that it is set up for Time Machine backups. If you don't know whether it is set up, go to the System Preferences (in the Apple menu), and click on "Time Machine." If your hard drive is listed there (like in the last picture at the bottom of this entry), you're in business. You also need to verify that you can connect to Mac1 from other computers over your home network. Back in the System Preferences, click on the "Sharing" icon. If the "File Sharing" check box is not clicked, check it now.
On the computer that you want to set up for backups (for simplicity's sake, "Mac2"), go to the "Go" menu from the Finder and choose "Network." In the screen that follows, double-click on your Mac1, and then double-click on the backup drive that should show up next. This will connect ("mount") the drive to Mac2.
Okay, now let's get to the meat of the matter. On Mac2, open the System Preferences and click on "Time Machine." This is what you should see:
If you predict that the next step is to click on "Choose Backup Disk...," you will be correct. This will bring you to a window showing all of the storage devices available to you. In the picture below, "Mr. Plow" is a network drive that is already being used for Time Machine backups. See the "Use for Backup" button? Go ahead and click on it.
(FYI, the "Set Up Time Capsule" button is used only if you purchased the Time Capsule hardware that was mentioned earlier.)
This will throw you back to the original Time Machine setup window, but now things are a little busier! If it looks something like the picture below, then you have successfully set up your very own backup network. Congratulations! From here on out, your computer will go through the backup process whenever it sees that your network drive is available. If you're not on your network, then it will just wait until later.
Any questions or corrections? Throw in a comment and let us know what you think!
This is exactly what i was looking for - a step-by-step to use Time Machine wirelessly.
Just 1 question:
- do i need to do anything to the external drive i'm using, like partitioning? It's already Mac formatted and being used as a TM backup for my iMac. I just want to backup my wife's MB and kids MB to the same drive. There's no problem having 3 different backups on the same external drive? Just want to be sure before i go through the effort.
I guess the only issue i can anticipate is that my backup drive is going to fill up faster, so each backup will not keep as much history.
thanks!
Hey, thanks for the comment. You actually don't have to do anything with the drive after it's set up the first time. It just creates a seperate backup folder for every computer...no partitioning necessary. I personally have three computers on my one TM drive.